352: How to Survive a Hitman, Protect the Environment, and Make the Coffee Industry More Ethical and Sustainable with Etelle Higonnet

352: How to Survive a Hitman, Protect the Environment, and Make the Coffee Industry More Ethical and Sustainable with Etelle Higonnet

Author: Matt Bowles: Full-Time World Traveler Since 2013 September 1, 2025 Duration: 57:34
Learn what you can do to combat environmental destruction and human rights abuses in the coffee industry staring today. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel, culture, and living beyond borders you can read in 60 seconds. ============================ ON THIS EPISODE In part 2 of this interview, Etelle Higonnet explains how human rights abuses and environmental destruction are intertwined and breaks down the main causes and industries harming the environment today. She then explains the sustainable alternatives, how we can work together to reform these industries, and shares some specific activist victories.  Etelle then talks about the environmental campaign she ran against the company Olam in Gabon, and tells the story of how she survived when two hitmen were sent to kill her. She then talks about her love of coffee, what most people don’t know about the coffee they drink, and why she founded Coffee Watch.  Etelle explains how human rights abuses and environmental destruction pervade the coffee industry, and what campaigns Coffee Watch is undertaking to combat them. She explains how we can all make an impact towards reforming the coffee industry by buying more ethical coffee, pressuring our favorite brands, signing petitions, getting politically active, and volunteering with Coffee Watch. → Full show notes with direct links to everything discussed are available here. ============================ FREE RESOURCES FOR YOU: See my Top 10 Apps For Digital Nomads See my Top 10 Books For Digital Nomads See my 7 Keys For Building A Remote Business (Even in a space that’s not traditionally virtual) Watch my Video Training on Stylish Minimalist Packing so you can join #TeamCarryOn See the Travel Gear I Use and Recommend See How I Produce The Maverick Show Podcast (The equipment, services & vendors I use) ============================ ENJOYING THE SHOW? Follow The Maverick Show on Instagram and DM Matt to continue the conversation Please leave a rating and review — it really helps the show and I read each one personally You can buy me a coffee — espressos help me produce significantly better podcast episodes! :)

There’s a certain texture to life lived in motion, a collection of stories that emerge not from postcards but from the messy, beautiful reality of planting roots in foreign soil. The Maverick Show: Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders captures that essence through long-form conversations hosted by Matt Bowles, who has been navigating the world full-time since 2013. This isn't a guidebook podcast; it’s a series of intimate dialogues, often unfolding casually over a shared bottle of wine, where the destination is understanding. You’ll hear from a diverse range of voices-expats, digital nomads, women forging paths abroad, and diaspora storytellers-each sharing the raw, unfiltered nuances of what happens when you cross borders for good. The focus is on the human narrative beneath the itinerary: the cultural misunderstandings that become breakthroughs, the loneliness and liberation, and the profound ways a global life reshapes identity. Listening feels like pulling up a chair at a cafe somewhere in the world, eavesdropping on a conversation that’s equally about internal discovery as it is about geographic change. Matt’s own experience as a long-term traveler informs these discussions, steering them toward the substantive lessons learned far from home. If you’ve ever wondered about the true weight and wonder of building a life between cultures, this podcast offers a genuine, thoughtful window into that journey.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

The Maverick Show: Global Travel Stories & Life Beyond Borders
Podcast Episodes
300: Three Hundred Maverick Show Episode Special with Matt Bowles [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 19:51
Matt Bowles celebrates 300 episodes by offering 30 free video calls as well as discounts to meet up with him in person. ============================ Get the Monday Minute my weekly email with 3 personal recs for travel,…